Flashback : Dallas

Photo: Buddy Magazine

by Paula Bosse

Every time I come across this photo I clipped from an old Buddy magazine, I laugh. I don’t think I’ve ever considered the word “disgruntled” as an adjective to describe David Allan Coe, but I think we’d all be pretty disgruntled if we were the headliner at the Longhorn Ballroom, and they couldn’t even spell our name right on the marquee.

A disgruntled David Allan Coe points to the marquee with his name misspelled in front of the Longhorn Ballroom. Photo by Stoney Burns.

If you aren’t familiar with the excessively “colorful” David Allan Coe… well… you’re probably not a fan of the extreme side of Outlaw Country Music. I swear I heard “You Never Even Called Me by My Name” every single time I went to the Lakewood Landing, back when I went there a LOT. I hope it’s still on the jukebox. You can’t call yourself a true Texan unless you’ve sung along to this song in a packed bar. (You can listen to this legendary DAC song on YouTube here — listen all the way through!)

And speaking of Buddy, enjoy this Shiner Beer ad that appeared in its pages in 1975:

And still speaking of Buddy, I understand that all (…ALL!) (…or almost all…) back issues — going back to the first issue from July 1973 — are in the process of being fully scanned and will be coming soon to an internet near you. This is such an important cultural archive of Texas music (and Dallas music)! There is a very large selection of Buddy at the downtown Dallas Public Library, but there are gaps in the collection. I look forward to wandering through the back issues when the archive is up and running!

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Sources & Notes

Photo of David Allen Allan Coe is by the legendary Stoney Burns; it appeared in a May 1975 issue of Buddy magazine. The Shiner ad is from an April 1975 issue of Buddy. Both issues are from the very large collection housed at the Dallas Public Library.

Buddy is still going strong, after 53 years. (And so is the 86-year-old DAC!)

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Copyright © 2026 Paula Bosse. All Rights Reserved.